New York Times article on Model railroading - ouch

[dknelson]

The New York Times for Jan. 15 has a large article on model railroading, to the effect that there are significantly fewer model railroaders, that the hobby is aging badly, that there are fewer hobby shops, etc etc etc. Quoted were various familiar names from the MRIA as well as Model Railroader and owners of two NY City hobby shops. And as usual the writer found it necessary to mention the prices of the most expensive items out there as if that is representative. The headline mentioned 1;160 ratio as if all trains are N which causes one to question how thoroughly the writer heard what was being said by anybody. Anyone who was ever close to a real news event and then saw it written in a newspaper, even a great paper like the Times, knows the feeling of wondering "Jeez are all their articles this inept?" Nonetheless, it was a sobering article that explains MR page counts (the topic of another forum posting), the decline in NMRA membership, higher prices, the sense that special limited runs and boutique prices are becoming more common, and so on.
And yet ... at Milwaukee's annual Train Fest I am still seeing a ton of kids, from toddlers to teens, looking at the trains with great interest.
The article is worth reading. A bit contrast to a very funny article in the Wall Street Journal before Christmas -- it was more of a golly gee type article that said "wow they still make model trains!" I don't know which approach is more depressing: that nobody knows our hobby exists anymore, or that they regard it as a throwback, akin to alligator wrestling or making your own shoes out of old tires
Dave Nelson

[jsanchez]

The New York Times has become the biggest joke in the land as far as reporting credibilty, I read this article also, and thought it pathetic, just like their Iraq war coverage, political coverage and everything else they distort.
Fox News ran a story on trains and it was just the opposite . They interviewed some of the manufacturers and the piece was about how model train sales are booming, not declining. I believe they are up to i 700,000,000 million plus in the USA alone. The biggest change in the industry is that the web is becoming the prefered means to buy trains, not the local hobbyshop., but this is happening to all retail. Even Sears and Wal-Mart are depending on their websites to build sales and grow. Why shoudn't the the local hobbyshop.

[Anonymous]

jsanchez; ?????? Could you elaborate on that "700,000,000 million"
number...to what does it refer.... ????
thanks / Mike

[Anonymous]

Is this the article?

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/15/nyregion/15MODE.html

I didn't see names or quotes from MR or the MRIA, but did see one from the NMRA's Kalmbach Library, which, interestingly enough, has caused recent controversy due to the nationally reported rudeness and unresponsiveness of its staff. I assume a call from the New York Times warranted more expedited service!

This is certainly a superficial piece, with the reporter doing most of his "research" at the two stores in question.

But to me it also raises the question of the purpose and effectiveness of the "World's Greatest Hobby" campaign. I don't know if Andy was given goals or expectations to meet when he took over the program, but if I were in a position to ask, I would want to know how he planned to make sure that media had better resources available to help them write stories on the hobby. As far as I can see, WGH is a speaker's bureau for Boy Scout meetings, and that's about it -- don't ask what it's doing to help the New York Times cover the hobby and put things in a positive light.

The first thing somebody should have pointed out to the reporter was that downtown businesses of any type are not thriving, and it should not be a surprise that hobby shops in any downtown (including "Midtown") environment are closing. But more are opening in suburban malls and similar environments, and others are selling on the Net.

So I would ask if WGH ought to be something more than a place for former MR editors to be put out to pasture -- shouldn't the hobby shops, manufacturers, and ultimately consumers, who are paying for the little yellow and black stickers expect some real results for their money?

[Anonymous]

John,
I sensed pretty much the same thing with the author's reference to the two stores and eventually the obvious falling out between the two owners. Possibly one of them is seeing the end of his business and is now talking sour grapes.

Ken, D&J Railroad, Stafford, VA

[Anonymous]

After I posted on the World's Greatest Hobby program as it relates to the Times piece, I went back to the greatesthobby.com site to see what it did in fact offer to the media. First, the site is clearly oriented toward beginners in the model railroad hobby, and I still believe the program's biggest activity is to serve as a speaker's bureau for model railroaders who might want to speak on the hobby to Boy Scout meetings, other youth or school groups, and so forth. The site has a "Welcome Beginners!" banner, so dealing with the New York Times is clearly not its intent.

However, there is a "Media" section, so I clicked on it, and it just has several desultory quotes from supposedly "favorable" news stories. One caught my attention, and I quote it in full here:

Model Trains make The Times

On Thursday, April 11, 2002, The New York Times House & Home section ran the article "A Whistle-Stop World." The article explores the hobby of model railroading and the men behind it, including performer Mandy Patinkin. "More than nostalgia for trains or toys...it's nostalgia for a way of life," the article claims.

Note that even if WGH targets "beginners", it is favorably quoting a piece that makes you think, like the January 15 Times piece, that nostalgia is a big part of the hobby. (Guess we can forget about SD90s and AC6000s, huh, guys? No reason to be interested in them, they aren't nostalgic.) I guess WGH is looking for 14 year old nostalgic beginners.

I was surprised that the WGH site isn't offering a more conventional media package, where a reporter might be able to see or download favorable information that presents the hobby as a challenging activity for people of all ages, with a great deal of current interest in the modern rail industry.

So if a reporter called the Kalmbach Library, or walked into a hobby shop, all WGH participants would have gotten the message, "if you get a call or a visit from a reporter, by all means point them to our greatesthobby.com site, where they can find quotes and info on celebrities who like model trains (Frank Sinatra, Tom Snyder, various rock and country music stars, etc.) photos of layouts that feature modern rail operation, and so forth."

THEN if a reporter walks into a hobby shop and interviews an out-to-lunch clerk or owner, it won't be WGH's fault. But that, of course, would assume someone is putting a normal level of effort into the WGH program instead of coasting.

Andy?????

[dknelson]

John,
the version of the NY Times article that I read in the paper quoted Fred Hamilton head of the MRIA (and a former Kalmbach employee) as well as the Editor of MR. Are those quotes missing from the version you saw?
It might well be that the article reflects nothing more than good old reliable New York provincialism -- sort of, good lord if the hobby shops in Manhattan are closing then the hobby as a whole must be down the tubes. It probably kills them to think that the major magazines are from Milwaukee and New Jersey, but them's the breaks.
I do think the WGH campaign has to aim at the media. It seemed clear that the very upbeat Wall St Journal article must have had WGH involvement.
Dave Nelson